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a. w-. BLAKE;

I Lowmm ma'mcwon FOR STEAM BOILERS.

NO .-3v5 5,067. PATEN'I'ED AUGUST 20, 186

TAKEN FROM PATENT OFFICE REPORT.

18 61 voL. II.

' 011m! DRAWING ACCESSIBLE (191s).

GEO. W. BLAKE, OF YORK, N."Y.

LOW-WATER DETECTOR FOR STEAM-BOILERS.

Specification of LettersEPatent No. 33,067 ,jdated August 20, 1861.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE W. BLAKE, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Low Water Detectors for Steam Boilers; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure l, is a front view of a detector with my improvement-s partly in section; and Fig. 2, a vertical section of the same at right angles to Fig. 1, showing its application to a boiler.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in both figures.

My invention relates to that class of low-- water detectors in which the valve of a steam-whistle is opened by the expansion of a tube which is filled with water when the water in the boiler is up to the desired level, pndlwith steam when the water is below that eve It consists in an improved arrangement of steam and water circulation-pipes in connection with each other and with the said tube and the openings communicating with the boiler; also in an improved arrangement of a steam-pipe in combination with the said tube, the whistle, and the openings of communication with the boiler; and further in a certain arrangement of levers for opening the valve of the whistle, in combination with the whistle, the expanding tube anda fixed support. v

To enable others to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

A, is a T-shaped socket fitted and secured to a tubular orifice e in the head of the boiler, with the top of its neck, 6, at a level a little above that at which the alarm is desired to be given.

(Z, is an opening between the horizontal neck 6 and upright head, k, of the T-shaped socket, having its upper part from a quarter to half an inch lower than the top of the neck 6.

B, is the expanding-tube screwed in an upright position into the top of the head is of the socket A, and having attached to its upper end the valve-box, G, of the steamwhistle, C, and having firmly secured to its lower part a plate, D, to which there is firmly attached by upright rods, E a sec- 1 end plate, F, in which thereis an opening large enough for the upper part of the said tube or the lower part of the valve-box Gr to pass freely through it.

H, is the whistle-valve, of the puppet kind, arranged in the box G, over the center of the expanding-tube B, and closing in an u ward direction, having a spring, 6, app ied to its upright stem, a, to keep it closed when the pressure of the steam is insufficient for that purpose, and having its stem protruding through a stuifing-box, o, at'the top of the valve-box G. c

The tube B is entirely closed at the top, as shown at j, Figs. 1 and 2; and is closed at the bottom, as shown at Z, except that it has inserted therein the circulation-pipes N and I (Fig. 2) the latter of which extends downward nearly to the bottom of the socket A, and the former upward nearly to the top of the expansion-tube. v extend below, or the pipe I above, the bottom Z of the expanding tube B; and the said pipes, being open-throughout, combine with the expanding tube B to form a siphon.

The pipe N need not- 7 :P, (Fig. 2) is thepipe for conveying steam to the whistle, connected at its lower end with the neck a of the socket A, and at its upper end with the valve-box G, above the expanding-tube B, and provided with I an expansion-jo1nt,m. V e V J, 18 214 plug, closing the bottom of the head is of the socket A, made movable to provide for the cleaning out of the said socket and the pipes N- I. c a 7 Q, is a cock attached to the upper part of the expanding tube B, to provide for the escape of the air from thesaid tube previous to its being setin; operation.

K, is a lever which is attached "by one end to a fixed fulcrum-pin, f, in a standard, L,

crum-pin constitutes the fixed support for the said lever. It is connected by a link, 9, with one end of a shorter lever, M, which is arranged to work on a fixed fulcrum, h,

a (Fig. 1) secured to theplate 'F. This fllL. c l

secured to the same plate F. The other end of the lever K is situated over the valvestem a," and the other end of the lever M enters a notch, i, in the adjacent side of the valve-box G.

To set the apparatus in operation when attached to the boiler as represented in Fig. 2, the cock Q, is opened, and when the boiler has n e a d a fie' t p e su es? steamhas been generated, it forces water upward from the boiler through the pipes I,

traction and the descent of the, valve-bud:

- and N, into the tube B, and't'h'e air is expelled from the said pipes and tube through I the cock Q. When the air has all been ex- H pelled and water commences to issue from the cock Q, the latter is closed and remains so until air has been again admitted to the j tube B, by emptying-the boiler or 'from any other cause.

While the level of the water in theboiler remains 'above the top of the opening d, the tube B remains full and the water in the said tube remains comparatively cool; and in this condition of the said tube the top of the valve-stem a remains at a little distance from the lever K, as shown in "the drawing, and the valve H remains closed; but when the :Water in the boiler gets below the top of the opening el, the water in the socket A and that in the pipes N, I, and tube B, being in egm'lbm'o, a natural circulation by gravitation is permitted the said tube, pipes,

and socket, and so the quantity of water contained in the pipe N, and portion'of the socket A above the opening (Z, quickly flows back into'the boiler, and steam then rushes up the pipe N, into the upper part of the tube B, and fills the said tube as the re mainder of the water which is-contained therein descends through the pipe I. The

tube B, then becoming heated, quickly expands longitudinally in an upward direction and raises the valve-box and valve-seat, While at the same time the rise of the valvebox moves up the adjacent end of the lever 11, and so throws down the other-end of the said lever, which, by means of the link-g, draws down the lever K, toward and upon the valve-stem with a multiplied movement, and so depresses and opens the valve by a very slight expansion of the tube B, and

'7 allows steam supplied through the pipe to rush through the whistle and cause the detection of the condition of the water. When the water rises again in the boiler 'abovethe neck e and shuts off the pipes N, and I, and

tube B, from the steam in the boiler, the

steam left in them is soon condensed by the cooling of the tube by the surrounding air, and water rushes from the boiler through lever K above the valve-stem, and so pe u "andso prevents any water frombein the pipes to fill the weum whigii th 7 been produced in the tube B, and plpeN, The cooling of the tube causes its' consequent movement of the seat townlfll the valve, while the descent of the valvecauses the lever M to raise the portion of the valve to move upward and close, double movement "of the valve and seat the multiplied "movement obtained by lever K enable the valve to be opened very slight amount of expansion, andas circulation in the tube B and pipes N I almost instantaneously and j pended with variations in the level and above the upper edge of the opening I The upper part of the 19 being. iibo the upper edge of the openingfd, ip for the continued escape of steam by whistle, while the Water is rising above opening d, and so givestime for "the v to close before the water reaches 'the through the whistle in the interval the shutting oil of he opening *to steam and the closing of the valve h pi e P, whileth'e water in the boiler the neck e, will become filled with water!!! the condensation of steam in it, after it remained for some time at rest with valve H closed; and when the valve is opened, a portion of this water may be u through the whistle. 7

What I claim as my invention, and e to secure by Letters Patent, is: 4 1. The combination of hesteam-pi'pe the valve-box G, the openin d, and pa 6, with the siphon tubes B fund I, substaul tia-lly as and for the purpose her-em scribed.

2. The arrangement of the two levels K, and their connection g, in oombin n with the expanding-tube, valve box valve-stem, and with a fixed support F, sta'ntially as and for the purpose herein specified.

GEO, BLAKE Vi'tnesses: 1

M. M. LIVIN'GB'IUN, JAMES LAmD. 

